1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to a filled snack product or snack bar, more specifically, a filled snack product having spaced filling lines applied from an extrusion plate and a method of making the same.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It has long been known to produce filled snack products of various compositions. For example, numerous filled dough products, such as filled snack products or hand-held pies with moist fruit, melted cheese, or gravy fillings, have been made for centuries and are commercially available. These bars have a filling that is disposed as a sheet, strip or pad of filling between two layers with sealed or stamped edges.
An example of one such product is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication 2009/0110780 to Sanchez et al. The Sanchez publication discloses a laminated baked snack bar that includes a filling laminated between two layers of dough. A filling layer is disposed between the two layers to completely cover the surface of one of the layers and fill the area between the two layers when the other layer is placed on the first layer.
Another example of a product is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,203,828 to Thota et al. The Thota patent discloses a filled dough product, more particularly a cheese filled dough product. Multiple, continuous, filling lines are deposited longitudinally upon a dough sheet that is folded over itself to surround the filling lines and form a dough shell around each of the filling lines. The filling lines may be applied via an extruder. The top portion of the dough shell is crimped onto the bottom portion of the dough shell between each filling line and along a longitudinally-extending break line to seal the dough shell longitudinally between each of the filling lines.
Another example of a product is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,410,952 to Liou. The Liou patent discloses a method for making a noodle with stuffing. A first dough sheet is placed on a conveyor to be moved through the process line. The first dough sheet passes through a shaping tool to form a plurality of parallel grooves in the first dough sheet. The shaping tool consists of a pair of rollers, the first roller having a smooth surface and the second roller having a plurality of parallel grooves. The first dough sheet is then passed under a plurality of outlets which feed stuffing into the plurality of grooves on the first dough sheet. The first dough sheet is then covered with a second dough sheet to form a sandwiched dough sheet. A cutter is then used to sever the sheet into a plurality of noodles with stuffing.